Dental floss-holder.



I. W. LITCHFIELD.

DENTAL FLOSS HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4, 1914.

1,152,825, PatentedSept. 7, 1915.

' device should be such that a small amount of' UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

ISAAC W. LITCHFIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DENTAL FLOSS-HOLDER.

Application filed March 4, 1914.

'1 '0 all 1.0/10). it in (13 concern Be it known that 1, Isaac \V.LI'l.(I-I1-'IELI). a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston,in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented anlmprovementin Dental Floss-llolders, of whichthe following is aspecification.

This invention relates to dental floss-holders and has for its objectthe provision of a device which is simple, inexpensive and eflicient. Adevice of this character. to be effective must be arranged to reachconveniently and quickly all of the front and back teeth. This resultmay be accomplished by supporting the floss so that its engagingportionoccupies a position at right angles to the longitudinal axis of thehandle-portion or thereabout, and by arranging said engaging-portion inthe same plane with its supports and the handle-portion. Furthermore,the engaging-portion of the floss should be stretched tightly but notunduly strained, and the strain well distributed, otherwise it is liableto break. This result may be accomplished by first securing the floss ata fixed point. and then passing the floss over the ends of the two armsof a fork and then securing its end-portion at a fixed point, thesecuring means being arranged at or near the pointof divergence of thetwo arms of the fork, or between the fork and the floss supply. \Vhenthus arranged the strain is well distributed throughout the entirelength of the floss which is drawn from the supply. The provision ofmeans for securing a length of floss at two points also obviates thenecessity of utilizing the supply as a means for holding one endthereof, which latter method is unsatisfactory for the reason that thestrain on the floss causes it to sink into the supply when drawntightly. Furthermore, the structure of the device should be such thatthe floss can be quickly and tightly strung and secured in the mannerabove setforth with one hand while the device is being held by the otherhand. Furthermore, the structure of the metal only is utilized in thatportion thereof which supports the floss and enters the mouth, so thatthere is little or no liability of injuring the teeth and gums and inthis connection the ends of the arms of the fork should be madespherical or otherwise enlarged and devoid of rough surfaces andprojections and recesses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Serial No. 822,270.

As there are at the present time on the market bobbins and phialscontaining floss, I prefer to construct the device so as to hold thesewell known forms, and in the case of a bobbin a pivot will be providedin connection with the holding-means and also a brake thereby to admitof the floss being readily drawn from the supply and its withdrawalregulated. The means for holding the bobbin or other form offloss-holder should be such that it can be easily and quickly operatedto remove one and substitute therefor another floss-holder, and thedevice of my present invention has its handle-portion composed of twoessential members arranged to receive the bobbin or flossholder betweenthem, one of said members being pivotally connected to the other member,whereby they may be separated to admit of the removal of a floss-holderand the introduction of another. As the supplies of floss are drawn froma spool or other form of floss-holder a cutting-device should beprovided, which will be arranged as near the supply as possible, so thatbut a short length will be exposed. Furthermore, the structure should besuch that the device will occupy but little space and may be carriedconveniently in the pocket or may be suspended from a hook if desired.All of these features are embodied in my device. yet the device may beeasily and cheaply constructed.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a dental floss holder embodying thisinvention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of thesame. Fig. 5 is a transverse horizontal section on the line 55 Fig. 4.Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation of the upper end-portion of thedevice illustrating the manner of engaging the floss. Fig. 7 is a frontelevation. and Fig. 8 is a. transverse vertical section of a modifiedform of my invention.

In the embodiment of my invention here shown. see Figs. 1 to- 6. a pieceof wire is bent to form a pair of substantially parallel portions 1.with a loop-like portion 3 at one end and a pair of diverging arms 4 andat the other end. The parallel portions with the loop-like portion serveas and con stitute a handle-portion and the diverging arms serve as andconstitute a fork' to hold the floss. The ends of the arms tiand 5 aremade more or less spherical as at (i. and have smooth surfaces, therebyto prevent injury to the teeth and gums, and the extremities of saidspherical endsare each formed with a shallow groove 'to' receive thefloss" and said grooves are made'quite wide ,pnd have smooth roundedwalls, so ant-themes of arranged on said oh and"said"i'holding-' meansconsists of a d l: 8- and a concavoconvex plate 0', arranged one on theother and rigidly secured together y'Ya centerrivet, said plate 9having'its convex face arranged adjacent the disk, thereby to provide agroove between converging" side walls arrafnged at' a very acute angle.The end-portions of the length of fines is carried around in thegroovethus provided and are firmly held by iri'etional'ly engaging the wallsof said groove at or near the bottom thereof. This oldin'gj-means, itwill be noted, is arranged at the point of divergence of the two arms ofthe fork and the disk 8 may be and is here shown as a part of the clip.In the form of'my invention shown in sa'i figures it retaining-plate 15is arranged to hold a bobbin 10 upon which a large supply of floss iswound, said bobbin being one of the commercial forms of floss-holdersnow on the market and having a center-hole 12 throu h it. Saidretainingplate is composed of s eat metal and is bent at its ends, as at16,17, thereby to form a recess between said bent end portions for thebobbin. The bent'end-portion 17 is car-.

ried around a short straight portion' at the end of the loop-likeportion 3 of the handle, thereby to pivotally connect the retainingplateto the lower en'd ol the' handle in order that it may be swung outwardto place a bobbin between them. 'Said retainingplate has a tongue 25,which is somewhat resilient, and said tongue is or may be struck up fromthe plate and bent inward at its extremity to form a projection 26 whichis arranged to enter the center-hole in the bobbin, thereby topivotally' support the bobbin, and said tongue also bears frictionallyagainst the side of the bobbin, thereby to serve as a brake to retardits rotation, thus holding the bobbin under slight tension whereby thewithdrawal of the floss is regw' lated. The bent end-portion 16, oftaming-plate has two ears extremity, arran ed with a space between them,to receive t a. parallel portions 1 and 2 of the handle, and saidportions 1 and 2 are made somewhat resilient and the adjacent sides ofthe ears are formed with the rethe' plate and disk with issue 19 at itsnotches corres onding to the shape of said portions]. an 2, so that saidnotched ears maybe snapped into locking engagement with the parallelportions 1 and 2, thereby to lock the retaining-plate. Saidretainingplate also-hasat its bent end-portion 16 a tongue 30, adaptedto be engaged by the fiuer for the purpose of moving the plate on itspivotal connection to disengage it from the parallel portions 1 and 2.end-portions 16 also has arranged on 1t a cutting-device forthe floss,here shown as a spur 35 which is struck up from the plate and'formedwith a sharpened edge, so that the floss may be carried beneath it anddrawn taut and thereby out; also said bent end-portion 16 of the platemay have small recesses 36 in its edges to serve as guides for thefloss.

To placea bobbin in position the retaining-plate is swung outward, thebobbin laced on its inner face with its center-hole m engagement withthe tongue, then said plate is swung inward into locking engagement withthe handle-portion. A short length of the floss may be drawn from itssupply and first carried around the holdingmeans and frictionallyengaged therewith, then carried over the grooved ends of first one andthen the other arm of the fork and then again carried. to and about theholdihgmeans, thereby to look its other end, care being taken to drawthe floss taut after it has been carried over the grooved ends of thearms and before it is a second time wound about the holding-means. sothat when wound and locked it will be held taut. This method of drawingoil a supply oi? dose and easing it over the ends of the arms of the arkand locking it at both ends may be carried out with one hand while thedevice is held by the other hand. In the construction here shown, itwill be noted that the floss is held by the fork at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the handle-portion and also that the fork is in thesame plane with the handle-portion.

' In Figs. 7 and 8, a modification of my invention is shown wherein aretaining-plate 40, similar to the plate 15, is provided for holdin aphi'al containing a supply of floss, said p ate having a hole through itof less width than the diameter of the phial, in lieu of the tongue 26and otherwise is substantially the same as plate 15.

I claim 1. A dental floss holder constructed of wire bent to form a pairof parallel portions. said parallel portions being together bent mtoa'loop like portion at one end to serve as a handle, the wire lengthsbeyond the Earallel portions at the end opposite the loo eing divergentto provide arms, the ends of the arms being grooved,a clip embracin thewirestrands atthe juncture of the parallcfi I:

Said bent end divergent portions, said clip serving to maintain thestrip in parallelism and floss holding means carried by the clip andsupported to one side of the parallel portions.

2. A dental floss holder consisting of a single length of wireconstructed to form parallel portions throughout the greater lengththereof, the wire terminals beyond the parallel portions being projectedon divergent lines to form arms, a clip binding the wire length inparallel portions, said clip being adjacent the divergent arms and afloss gripping element carried by the clip and disposed at one side ofthe end adjacent 15 the meeting point of the divergent arms,

ISAAC W. LITCHFIELD.

Witnesses Bmimcn J. NoYns, H. B. DAVIS.

